An important requirement of merchandizing is to be able to draw the attention of customers to the merchandise (as used herein, merchandise may either be a product or a service). Drawing the customers' attention to a merchandise is especially difficult when the merchandise is a service, because there is no shape, size and appearance which can be used to attract the customers to the service, and especially more so when the service has to be marketed among the many products being displayed and sold in the usually limited shelf space available in a store.
What is needed is a merchandizing apparatus and technique which can simultaneously attract customers to more than one type of merchandise.
What is also needed is a method and apparatus for facilitating merchandizing of a service in a store among different products.
What is also needed is a method and apparatus for merchandizing two types of merchandise simultaneously within a limited space which a store sets aside to merchandise one type of merchandise.
The present invention provides a merchandizing apparatus which has a box for containing a first type of merchandise, a first panel for displaying information relating to the first type of merchandise, a second panel on the box, and a stack of slips attached to the second panel. Each such slip is removably attached to the stack and contains information associated with a second type of merchandise.
In another aspect, the present invention also provides a method of dispensing advertising slips from a limited store space, each of the slips containing merchandizing information of a first type of merchandise. The method includes the step of placing a first type of merchandise in a box, the step of displaying merchandizing information relating to the second type of merchandise on a first panel which extends from the box, and the step of stacking the slips on a second panel extending from the box. The slips are stacked by removably adhering one slip to another slip.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for simultaneously marketing at least two types of merchandise. The apparatus has a container for a first type of merchandise. The apparatus also has a first panel, extending upward from a back surface of the container, which contains marketing information relating to the first type of merchandise. The apparatus also has a second panel, extending downward from a front surface of the container which serves as a billboard to which a stack of individually detachable slips are adhered. Each of the slips contains information relating to a second type of merchandise.
Advantageously, the present invention allows two products/services to be marketed effectively within the limited space generally available in a store. Also advantageously, the present invention facilitates the marketing of a service by marketing it with an associated product, using the product to help draw the attention of passersby.